Dismal Angel Episode 22: Between Thieves
by AngelExposed
Summary: Remy finds himself making a big mistake while on Muir Island, and finally, his chance to find out who the Muir Island Research Centre Thief is! (finished R&R)
1. Chapter 1: Stormy Weather

Chapter 1: Stormy Weather

             The water pounded against the rocks, a vicious hiss as it rushed violently, washing over stone and the base of the cliff side, the white foam apparent even in the ever growing darkness as twilight ebbed into night.  

             Remy LeBeau lit a cigarette, pangs of guilt sweeping over his conscience.  He had been lighting cigarettes for two months, and feeling the same rush of guilt and disappointment in himself – in his ability to quit the foul habit.

             And yet, here he was, smoke filling his lungs, and in his head he could almost hear Marie D'Ancanto's tutting, preaching how lung cancer would be his doom.  Then, after her voice faded away, his own thoughts came through with a rush of anger.

             She isn't here to tell you that now, LeBeau, he thought at himself irately, he exhaled the smoke, watching it disappear into the wind and spray of a light rain.   That was when the memory seethed inside his head, at his own fury with the woman he loved upon finding out she'd had feelings for someone else. 

             He felt fury now, not only with her, but with himself.  Driving her away had probably been the worst thing he could have chosen to do, and upon realising it the minute she'd left Scotland to return to Bayville with the rest of the X-Men, he'd been kicking himself ever since.

             I may as well have told her to rush to Jared's arms, Remy thought dully, he raised his head to the horizon, seeing the faint flickers of distant lightning, and soon the rolls of thunder rumbled tenuously. 

             His mind was full of visions of Rogue and Jared together, not only platonically, but romantically, them kissing, him stroking her hair, them holding each other, bare and exposed to the air, moving rhythmically in the love-making Remy had never been able to achieve with Rogue. 

             The thoughts stung like acid upon a raw bleeding flesh, the hurt of Rogue's kept secrets from him still hurt, an ugly gaping wound that wasn't healing, and wasn't soon to either.  

             He'd driven her to Jared, he thought pained with the memories of the last argument he'd had with Rogue.  The one he needed to keep her away from the most was the one he'd driven her to.  Surely right now they were laughing at him for being so stupid as to let love in and cloud his judgement over a girl.

             A silly girl.

             That's all she is, Remy, he thought angrily at himself, he tossed his cigarette away.   Just a silly little seventeen year old girl, she doesn't even know what love is, he told himself.

             No matter how many times he'd told himself of this fact, it had never changed his opinion.  Despite she was no more than a silly girl, she was the one who'd reached him where all others had failed, the one he was willing to give up eternity for.  He would have given his life up for her.   And now…she was gone.

             He'd changed his mind about his wanting her to leave the day after he'd asked her – no, demanded her – to, and the first thing he'd done upon returning to the Island was rush to her room in the research centre hoping to stop her from leaving, hoping she'd only be packing.  But she wasn't…she was no where in sight.  Nothing left of her in the room, no trace of her, not even a slight whiff of the perfume she wore.

             And when he'd went into his room, he'd found the ring lying on the cabinet beside the bed, and realised what a mistake he'd made.  It seemed it truly was over.

             He'd waited with bated breath, hoping to hear from her, hoping to receive a letter, a phone call, even an email, but nothing had come, she hadn't tried to get in contact with her, and he'd anxiously waited every day, checking, but nothing came for him, except a cheque in the mail from Professor Xavier for the work he'd been doing at the Research centre.  

             It bothered him that Rogue had let him drop so quickly, he resented her for it, but even more than that, he resented himself for having let this happen.  

             He then had to reason with himself.  So what if she likes another guy?  He asked of himself, he took one final glance over to the horizon, the lightning seemed to be coming closer.  

             So what if she didn't tell me another guy was interested in her…at the end of the day…she asked me to Marry her, not him…at the end of the day, she came to me, not Jared…she wanted me, it was me she wanted, it was me she touched…it was me, not him, it was me…

             He put his hand over his eyes, tears came but he wiped them away quickly, he felt stupid, men didn't cry over things like this, did they?  Not men, and not him.  And since Rogue had come into his life, tears had been all too often with him, a man who had never cried before having met her, and now, found it frequent.

             I've made a huge mistake, he thought wearily, he looked down over the water and wondered just how easy it would be to end it all.

             After a while of regret, and standing staring down into the crashing waves of the angry water below the cliff, he'd turned back to the centre, and headed into his room, he'd poured over blueprints exhaustedly.  His only distraction these days was either pouring himself into work that didn't concern him – as a research assistant he was posing as while residing at the Centre – or the real undercover work, which consisted of finding all the security weak points to prevent a recurring break in and theft of several expensive chemicals, that were going into the illegal manufacturing of a drug called "MutantX".

             He'd worked steadily for two months, designing new security systems, fitting them, trying to break in himself, and when finally the security systems he'd installed were even preventing himself from breaking in, he was beginning to feel rather successful. 

             It had been two months without a break in.  It seemed that finally, after all his hard work, the attempts of break in were over, and nothing had been stolen, he was beginning to wonder if finally he could go back to Bayville.  Two months was a long time, and despite his resentment for Rogue's having kept secrets from him, he still needed to be with her, and he knew if he could just look into those dark green eyes of hers, maybe there could just be a tiny piece of hope that they would be back together.

             He glanced at his watch, it was ten at night, which meant it was probably about four pm in Bayville.  He wondered if it was finally time to try and get in contact with Rogue.  It had been two months spent trying to ignore his impulses to see how she was.  Two months wondering if there was anything of their relationship to salvage anymore, or if…it really was over. 

             He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out the velvet box, opened it, and examined the antique white gold ring with its shimmering emerald and two rare diamonds.  Admittedly, he'd been more than just a little mortified when he'd saw the ring lying on the bedside cabinet.  He'd been almost heartbroken.  He wasn't sure what to think of it really. 

             Remy wanted to call and ask Rogue.  Did it mean that, after all she and him had been through, she was finally giving up and going to take Jared up on his offer, or did it mean that she thought he – Remy – had given up, and that she was obligated to return the ring?

             He wasn't sure anymore.  He closed the box and put it in his pocket, wishing he knew the answer already, and afraid that he maybe already did.  A knock at his bedroom door made him jump, he hadn't expected anyone to come calling on him.  Quickly, he folded the blueprints and shoved them under the mattress of the bed, "come in," he said, once he was convinced there was nothing suspicious lying around.

             The door opened, a voluptuous brunette standing, framed in the doorway, her hazel eyes shimmering, "sitting in on a Friday night, again, Remy?"

             Remy looked up at her, her name was Carmel Graham, and she was gorgeous, a classic beauty, with all the right curves, her hair hanging in soft, sexy curls around her heart-shaped face, contrasting against her fair complexion.  She was a research student, doing part time work for the research centre in between studying genetics.  She'd only been at the research centre for two months, she'd only arrived shortly after Rogue had left.  

             Remy pretended he'd been reading a book he'd brought with him over three months earlier, a horror book called "Once" by James Herbert, he'd never been able to really get into the story, although it gave him a reason to tear his eyes away from the ravishing creature in front of him as the familiar lustful feelings began to rise within himself like flames ignited upon highly flammable fabric.  "You know me, I don't go out much, just a bookworm," he stated.

             Remy had been playing this part for three months.  Posing as a introverted, respectful, sheltered young Research Assistant, with no previous experience.  He'd claimed he'd only managed to scrape up a job at the research centre because his Wealthy Uncle, Professor Xavier, was a major financial backers of the centre, and it had been one of the conditions that he continue to finance everything if he were to be allowed a job there.

             This little lie gave him enough freedom to move around the other employees to try and find out if any of them were the chemical thief who had been breaking into the research centre, without seeming too suspicious.  When they would take days off and the research centre was safe from their prying eyes, he would go to work trying to make the place more secure, installing new security systems, and testing them before the others got back.

             Three months he'd spent and had barely learned anything about who was taking the chemicals, and who exactly was producing MutantX from them.  He was determined to find out, even if it cost him another three months.

             Breaking him from his thoughts, Carmel spoke, "why don't you come with us to the pub?" she queried casually, her Scottish brogue so thick sometimes he could barely understand it.

             Remy glanced up at her and smiled, "no thanks, I'm kinda just gonna have an early night," he said.

             "Remy, it's tragic, you never go out, I haven't seen you go out anywhere in two months…"

             "That's how I like it," Remy lied, "have fun at the bar," he said, "I'll see you on Monday morning."

             When she'd gone, he closed the door, and leaned against it, sighing, wondering why women like Carmel were there just to tempt him, when all he could think about was being with Rogue.  He wasn't going to allow it to get as far as Rogue had, that was for sure.  She might have allowed herself to feel for Jared however innocently it might have seemed, Remy wasn't going to let him feel the same to Carmel, no matter how attractive she was.


	2. Chapter 2: The Big Mistake

Chapter 2: The Big Mistake

             He'd typed in the same four first lines of his report over thirteen times, and deleted them, his concentration slipping constantly to Carmel, who was standing by a counter top in the lab, using a dropper to add tiny globules of blood to a chemical onto a small clear glass plate, then putting it under a microscope to examine.  He sighed and glanced down to his notes for what he'd been doing in the laboratory that day.  Truthfully, he didn't have a clue what he was doing, although he faked this extremely well, thanks to some tips given by Sean and Moira.  

             It was Monday evening, 

             The weekend had passed quickly, and he'd spent all his time watching made for TV movies on Saturday and reruns of 'Eastenders' on Sunday.  All the while never concentrating on storylines, the only thing he could keep his mind focused on was Rogue.

             Was it really over?  Could it really be over?  And if it was, what was he going to do with the rest of his life.  If it really was over, was it worth trying to avenge her rape by making sure MutantX manufacturing was stopped once and for all?  Of course it was…but…at the same time, his hard work would seem all the more empty if it was over. 

             He logged onto internet explorer on the computer, hoping Carmel would not notice him using the computer for personal reasons, he logged onto his email address through hotmail, nothing new in his inbox, nothing at all, no email from Rogue saying she was sorry and that she wanted him back, no emails saying she wanted to talk to him about their last argument.  Nothing.

             Nothing except older emails, the ones he'd received from her with her love and desperation to see him again.  It had seemed so long ago now.

             "Email, huh?"

             Remy turned, realising Carmel was at his back, looking at the screen, he sighed, "just checking," he closed the internet explorer window quickly, "been expecting an email for along time – received nothing."

             "Who from?" Carmel sat on the desk, her beautiful long legs flexed from her short brown skirt.

             "Just a silly girl," Remy sighed brokenheartedly, he went back to try to do his report.

             "You've been burned, haven't ya," Carmel folded her arms casually, she looked at him with those glittering hazel eyes, and for a moment, as he looked back at her, he became entranced, and the part of him that was very much human – and male – became enticed once again.

             "Burned, scarred and tortured more like," Remy remarked bitterly, "or just plain HURT," he growled more at himself than at Carmel.

             "You don't seem like the type of guy to be hurt by a lover," Carmel remarked truthfully, she gave him a looking over.  Remy realised what she meant, he was good looking, good looking guys were usually the ones to break hearts, not the other way around.

             "Me and Rogue were a lot of things," Remy admitted, "but never lovers."

             "Why not?" Carmel raised an eyebrow, Remy could see on her face she was trying to determine if it was possible that Remy might be a virgin, he hoped to god he didn't give anyone that impression, even if he was just playing a role while at the centre.

             "Wasn't right," Remy shrugged, he tapped his fingers on the desk absently, trying not to appear too interested in Carmel's heaving bosom.

             "Do you want to talk about it?" Carmel asked softly, her voice sweet, and honey like, her eyes meeting his for a moment.

             "Not right now," he responded softly, looking down to the keyboard.

             "You should move on," Carmel placed her hand lightly upon his shoulder, and she smiled at him.

             "Probably," Remy gave a deep sigh and looked away from her, "but thing is, I just can't."

             There was a twinkle in her eyes when Remy looked back at her, and her voice, so smooth, so seductive, came pouring out like delicious syrup.  "I…can help."

             Remy didn't understand what had come over him after Carmel had offered her help.  Maybe it was vulnerability, maybe desperation, or maybe just lust, that found him three hours later laying undressed, in bed with her, exhaustion settled over him, yet sleep would not come.

             She dozed peacefully at his side, he could feel her bare spine pressed against his hip, the warmth of the skin upon skin contact he had not felt for the longest time.  He glanced over to her, her long curly hair splayed out on the pillow near his cheek, the scent of her shampoo faint to his senses.

Remy, at first, had thought that a woman's touch in the way he had not felt for months, might have stirred within him the feeling of complete and utter euphoria he'd been missing for what seemed like almost an eternity.  Love making had been…good, but not spectacular – and it had not made him forget what he'd wanted to forget…if anything all it had done was remind him of promises made to another woman – to Rogue.

What am I doing laying here, having had sex with this woman, who I hardly know at all, when I wouldn't even take things to the next level with someone I've loved for a year? He asked himself, he looked up to the ceiling.  Now, he was going to have to live with the guilt of this if ever he and Rogue should reconcile.  How could he keep this a secret? He'd promised her time and time again there would be no more secrets.

Then again, why should this matter, wasn't it Rogue who had returned the ring, didn't that mean it was over?  Why should he feel guilty if they weren't technically together?

He tried to reason with himself that he had nothing to feel guilty over, but it didn't help.  If anything.  He sat up, throwing the covers off himself, still not stirring the sleeping woman at his side.  He got up, and dressed quietly, pulled on his long black leather trenchcoat, and left the room – and the centre, he needed a cigarette.  He'd lit up the cigarette the moment he'd gotten outside, the thick smoke filling his lungs.  He put his lighter in his silver tobacco case and looked at it, the metal cold against his fingers.

Rogue had given him the tobacco tin at Christmas, an Ace of Spades was engraved into one corner, and Remy's trademark was playing cards.  He ran his fingers over the engraved corner and sighed.  

God what have I done?!  He asked of himself.  He realised what he had done was throw away the love of Rogue for a very tawdry one night stand, and he had no plans of repeating it again.  He felt stupid, especially after promising himself he wouldn't let himself be with Carmel only days before.  Now here he was, he'd been with her, and it had been a mistake since the moment they'd kissed.

What does it matter?  Remy wondered at himself viciously, Rogue is probably fucking that Jared prick right now.  They've probably been fucking for the last two months, laughing at how stupid I am.

He put the tobacco case back in his pocket, he told himself to stop thinking this way.  It was obviously over between him and Rogue, why should he care?  Why should he be obligated to feel guilty about something that might not even be a crime technically.

How would he ever know though?  There was only one way to know and that was by talking to Rogue.  He knew there was no chance he'd ever be able to get her on the phone.  She was probably intent on never speaking to him again.  But at least if he emailed her…then maybe she could just hear his side of it.  Maybe something was salvageable.

That's what I'll do, he thought finally, I'll email her, and ask her if we're over…and if we're not over, then…I'll see what can be done to save our relationship…if we aren't, then at least I'll know not to feel guilty…

He finished his cigarette and tossed it to the grass, he stomped it out, and then headed back inside to the research centre.  Upstairs he went, to the staff living room.  Since the Island was cut off from the rest of Scotland, most of the staff who were employed at the centre also resided in the upstairs dormitories, since late nights made it impossible to catch the ferries home, for this reason there was a full kitchen, living room, and bathrooms as well upstairs.  The living room had a computer.

Remy entered the living room, the computer was in pieces on the floor, Ray Bullock, one of the resident research assistants, was on the floor kneeling with a piece of the computer in his hands.  "Hmm…is it broken?" Remy asked in concern, he looked at all the pieces on the floor.

"Uh, I'll say," Ray sighed, "One of the fucking idiots from here – I won't say who – downloaded some sort of porn-program and it's installed a virus and totally fucked over the harddrive," he uttered, "thing kept shutting itself down, then suddenly everything was corrupted, tried formatting it, but its not letting me, so I'm having to replace it.  For christs sake, this computer isn't even four months old yet."

Remy wished he understood more about computers, "I needed to send an email," he sighed, "is this the only computer in the centre?"

"There's the computers down in the lab," Ray reminded, "I don't think anyone would mind if you used one, as long as you cleared it with Mike – the security bloke – that you're going down there at this time."

Remy glanced at his watch, it was eleven pm, "Where's Sean and Moira?" He asked, he wondered if maybe he should clear it with them that he wanted to use the computer down there to send an email before even attempting to go down there.

"Out on a date – down to the Hen's Roost," Ray responded, Remy remembered the Hen's Roost being a very quaint little restaurant near the centre.

Remy nodded, "Okay, well, thanks," he said, and headed off.  He went to the basement, locating the security man, he was a broad man in his late forties, with red hair and dark eyes, he was mean looking but good natured, Remy knocked at the threshold of the security room before entering, "Hey…"

Michael, the security man, raised an eyebrow, "yes?"

"Just reporting to you that I'm going into the lab to use one of the computers, I shouldn't be too long," Remy answered.

Michael unlocked a nearby drawer and pulled out a pass, "here you are," he stated, throwing the pass to Remy.  It was a security pass, every day after work they were promptly returned to the security room to be locked away, another of Remy's brilliant ideas.  

Remy put the cord of the pass around his neck and headed off, up a flight of stairs, down a corridor, and through all four security doors, down longer winding hallways, and finally reaching the laboratory door.  He slipped his pass through the slot and typed in his access code into the nearby panel, glancing with an inspectors pride at all the hidden cameras watching him – the ones he'd installed.  He took a quick glance just to make sure nothing was out of place.

A smash from the laboratory startled him, and he felt his heart thud, he flung himself in, yanking a handful of cards from his pocket, ready to strike.


	3. Chapter 3: Hot in Pursuit

Chapter 3:  Hot in Pursuit

             The room was dark, and even with his acute eyesight, he didn't catch sight of the dark figure in time to stop himself from being attacked, something hard hit him in the shoulder, and he wasn't sure what it was, it knocked him sideways, and he almost fell, he reached for the lights instinctively, the room thrust into brightness that was almost sore upon the eyes.

             A figure, dressed completely in black, a black faded and very dirty looking trenchcoat, and a black mask with two eyeholes shot out from at his left, catching him off guard.  The black figure wielding a bronze bo-staff.  He gasped and ducked, rolled across the floor and up to his feet, he looked around, several chemicals gone, a bag on the counter seemed to be their location.

             The black figure swung the bo-staff at him, and he ducked again, he thrust his weight and pushed against the figures torso, pushing them against the wall, the torso threw the bo-staff up towards the ceiling, smashing one of the strip lights hanging there. 

             Remy didn't want to chance an explosion in a room full of chemicals.  While his powers didn't generate heat nor fire, there was a chance that on any kind of powerful enough impact chemicals could combust themselves, he didn't want to chance it while others where in the building.  Putting himself in danger was one thing, but putting others in danger was quite another.

             "Who are you!?!" Remy demanded angrily.

The figure did not speak, but simply grabbed the large bag on the table, Remy could make out the sound of glass clinking against glass.  Then, he gasped as the figure ducked behind that very counter and didn't come back up.

             "What the fuck…" Remy asked of himself, he ran around to the other side of the counter, looking for a trace of who it had been.  Nothing.  He reached and smashed his hand against the alarm button, the sirens beginning to go off.

             How the fuck could someone get through my security system?! He demanded, he knew no one could have possibly been that good at thieving that they could have outwitted him this time.  He'd thought up every possible way to keep someone out.  How had they done it?

             It was then he realised something, the tiles he were standing upon were slightly different from the rest, the gap between four tiles seemingly a lot wider than the rest, could it be…

             No, it couldn't have been, he had to tell himself sternly.  But he took a single card and wedged it in one of the gaps, he held onto it, focusing a small amount of energy into the card.  Not enough to cause a massive explosion, just enough to break the floor.

             He moved back, covering his face as hard tiles flew past him and the soft blast of the explosion rang out in contrast to the alarm, he looked down.

             A hole remained, through concrete, through earth, it was almost impossible to say how deep it might have been.  Remy could see no bottom.

             How could he have missed it?  He'd spent almost every day in this laboratory standing over the very piece of floor where the tunnel had been.  How could he have missed this?

             It wasn't in the blue prints, he reasoned with himself, so whoever had done this had to have done it after the building had been erected.  He turned as the security guard, Ray, and Carmel all rushed into the Lab, Carmel looking tired and confused, Michael's eyes flaring with anger at the damage when he ran around.

             "Thief's been at it again, they went through the floor," Remy said, "I'm goin' after him, in the meantime, get a hold of Moira and Sean and tell them what's goin' on.  If I'm not back in an hour, send someone after me," Remy said, he stared down into the rather long dark earthen hole, and sighed.

             He climbed down, wedging his feet into the earth and shimmying down the hole, the sides close enough to allow him to hold himself up.  He wasn't going to allow himself to fall just in case this was deeper than he'd allowed for.

Finally, the hole reached its end, and he leg go of the walls, letting himself fall into a rather large pile of soft damp earth that eased his landing.  He pulled himself up, now caked with dirt.  He begun to realise it was no wonder the thief's trenchcoat had been dirty.  Remy reached into the inside pocket of his black trenchcoat, locating the a foot long pole he had left there days before, he was thankful he hadn't thought to remove it earlier.  He pressed down on the three almost hidden buttons of the foot long pole, and it extended with a soft grinding of metal against metal, and to its full length of six feet.  He held it tightly in his right hand, he retrieved a card from his pocket with his left, and charged the card up, it providing a small amount of light to see by.  He walked carefully.  He knew not what to expect.

             The tunnel of earth seemed endless, its width considerable, more than eight feet wide and about seven feet high.  It seemed that the tunnels were also older than he had first thought, judging by the large pillars of wood that were supporting its structure, the wood slightly festering, discoloured and damp.  He held his card near to one of the pillars, yes, it was damp, and the wood felt strange.  

Something about the tunnel seemed to suggest this had been underneath the island many years, perhaps even since the first or second World Wars, maybe providing underground shelter from bombs or even secret tunnels for hiding weaponry, rations, or maybe even for passing enemy lines – although Remy really couldn't have seen the German Army having spent enough time on Muir Island to have settled a base.  

The only obvious thing about the tunnel was that the hole upwards towards the centre had been dug recently, since it had no particular support around it, and of course, the pile of earth underneath the hole, showing it had been recently disturbed.

Down in distance, almost echoing, he could hear the squeak of rats, and he could hear the noise of scuttling.  There was probably more than rats down in this dank channel under the island.  Insects…

Remy shuddered, if there was one thing on earth that made his skin crawl, it had to be insects.  Remy wished he'd thought to bring some kind of large flashlight or a lantern, his own charged up card not providing much light.  

The sound of dripping water was distant, and the tunnel seemed to go even further down, and then…it came to a T junction.  At the end of the tunnel he'd passed through, was another tunnel facing east or west as opposing north, the way he'd just come.  He looked blankly down both directions.  He had no way of knowing which way the person he was pursuing had gone.

Trust your instinct, Remy, he could vaguely hear his fathers voice in his head, it was something his adoptive father had always told him when he didn't know the answer to something.  His instincts were telling him nothing, he decided on pure luck, he pulled the pack of cards from his pocket, "okay," he said to himself in a whisper, "high card, I go left, low card, I go right."

He draw a card from the middle and turned it around in his hand to see the face, it was the ace of spades staring back up at him.

"How ironic," he muttered, knowing an ace could either be high or low.  He frowned, "I don't have time for this," he shoved the cards back in his pocket furiously, "okay, which way would Rogue go?" he asked himself, he glanced left and right.

He knew the answer.  Rogue always went right when it came to decisions like this, Remy was sure it was because Rogue was right handed, and her direction always seemed in that favour.  He turned right and began down the passageway. 

He was becoming increasingly aware how much the air was becoming even more stale than it had been in the passage, a pure sign that he was far away from an exit.  He began to wonder how far he could be from the other way out – and surely, there had to be another way out, after all, how could this thief have gotten in?  

Remy walked along carefully, his heart pounding furiously in his chest.  He was so close this time to the thief he could almost taste revenge.  Revenge for Rogue, revenge for her because of the drug this thief was allowing to be made.  He began to run, feeling that he must be closer.  Remy's thoughts of revenge and victory left him unaware of how close he was to danger, metal hit his jaw, the same bronze bo-staff having swung out from a darkened area, he felt the pain surge, but ignored it.  He wielded his staff, and held it with both hands just in time as the enemies bo-staff came crashing down again, he managed to block it before it could hit him.  He swung his bo-staff back, whoever he was fighting seemed to anticipate and know his every move and had chance to block before being hit.   In the darkness the two figures were a flurry of fists, and metal.  Remy was finding it almost impossible to fight, it was like fighting a mirror, he couldn't catch this person off guard with any of his moves.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Remy demanded, his voice angry, "tell me now!"

There was no answer, he dodged just out of the way as a fist came flying towards him, he caught it and pulled the fist behind the figure in blacks back, but caught off guard when he was thrown over, his back hitting the cold wet earth on the ground, he let out a cry of shock.  He heard running, feet slapping against the cold earth.

He wasn't letting them get away.


	4. Chapter 4: Showdown

Chapter 4: Showdown

             He pulled himself up and began to run, slightly off balance, slightly pained from the fight, he began to run.  Visions rushing through his head, he caught up, he threw his bo-staff, catching the dark figure at the ankles, causing them to fall over.  He heard the bag of chemicals land on the floor, some sounded as if they had smashed.

             Remy threw himself upon the figure, he received a swift punch to the jaw, his head swung to the side, he grimaced in pain, but turned back, trying to yank the mask off, he wanted to see who this was.  Ever since he'd seen the ring that had been found months earlier he'd been suspicious that whoever was doing the thieving he had known them – someone he'd known well enough to have recognised the ring.  But it came up blank in his mind whenever he tried to remember. 

             He was knocked to the head, and for a moment his senses were swimming, he wasn't sure if he'd been knocked unconscious even for a moment or two, although his head was searing with images of Rogue, the day she'd come to him shaken and said she'd been raped.  It was this persons fault.  He wasn't going to allow himself to succumb easy.  If anything, this person deserved to die for creating a drug that eventually came to harm the woman he loved.  

             "It's because of you Rogue got raped!" Remy had his hands on the figures throat, he tried to strangle, he was kicked off, straddled by the figure, they fought more intensely, fists flying again.  Remy receiving more blows than the figure, although he managed to get a few hard punches in.  Their voices seemed echoed and muffled almost in the tunnel.  Remy was becoming aware how much warmer he was beginning to feel, sweat dripping down his face as they fought, as he kicked and swung viciously.

             They struggled violently in the earth, Remy found himself pinned to the floor in seconds, the bronze bo-staff against his throat, he swallowed and grabbed a hold of the bo-staff trying to pull it from his neck.  He looked left from right while struggling, trying to find an escape, or a weapon.   The darkness was too intense for him to see how far his bo-staff could have landed.  He tried to keep a clear  head, what was nearest?  He looked around desperately, he could barely see anything let alone the person who was going to kill him with the bo-staff.

Now, there was only one way he think of that would get him out of the death hold, no matter how dangerous it would be.  It might mean losing his own life in the process, but it might be the only way to convince his attacker to let him go.

He gripped harder onto the bronze bo-staff, and frowned, "I know you're a Thief of the Guild," he tried to swallow, his voice faint.  How stupid it seemed now that he had not thought of this before, it had only just come into realisation, he realised this should have been apparent from the fighting style of the Thief – who else could have known how to fight in that way but someone of his own guild.  Who else could have broken in without detection?

  "Ain't no one but another Thief could be as good as I am at fighting, and ain't no one but another Thief who could have gotten away with so many chemicals without yet bein' caught…"

Remy swallowed, his neck hurting from where the bo was pressed hard against his flesh  "And I know you know who I am!" he hissed.  

             The figure looked down at him, he could only see nothing more than a silhouette as he began to charge the bo-staff with the energy of his powers, and he reached out into the earth, grabbing a hold of the strap of the nearby bag of chemicals, he could now smell something faintly medicinal, and something almost similar to sulphur.  The scent so strong it filled his senses and left him feeling strangely raw to it.

             "And if you know who I am, you'll undoubtedly know what my power does," Remy continued, his voice becoming a little stronger, the bo-staff charging more, becoming brighter, the figure coming into light, through the eyeholes, two eyes stared back at him, one green eye, and one brown.  It was so familiar to him, he began to rack his brain.  "And thus, you know that whatever I charge up is gonna explode…" he looked up.  "So let me go or I'm gonna blow us both up," Remy stated, sounding rather calm about it, despite he was almost petrified.

             "Your power can't do that!" the voice replied, he realised it was a woman's voice, the accent similar to his own, but if anything thicker, as if she'd spent far more time in New Orleans than he ever had, "your powers don't generate heat and you can't charge human flesh – even blowing up this bo-staff isn't going to kill us both!  It'll merely knock us back a bit!"

             Remy smirked, "Right, and I know for a fact that one of the bottles in that bag was benzoyl peroxide…it was the first bottle I noticed had gone missing," he turned his head towards the bag, the strap still firm in his hand, the figure seemed to realise now that it too, was glowing.

             "So?!" she asked almost incredulously, she was beginning to sound a little panicked though, that was exactly what Remy wanted.

"I might not be a fucking scientist, but posing as a research assistant at the centre I learned a few things, and benzoyl peroxide can explode upon impact, which…with the amount in there along with all the other chemicals, would provide a very…nasty…explosion" he smirked, "And if I let go of this bag, and the bag explodes and the impact will hit it…the whole thing is gonna go kaboom," He smirked, "now let me go.

             The figure leg go of the bo-staff and stood back from Remy, the dirty trenchcoat hanging slightly off one shoulder, her shape now apparent, a tall, lithe woman.  Something about those eyes had been so familiar, he still couldn't place her face.  "Still using the same old tactics, I see."

"Who…are…you?" His voice was trailing.  Something was beginning to tell him this just wasn't someone who knew of him, but it was someone who knew him – or who had known him – very personally.  Yet, he couldn't fathom who exactly.

"You mean you haven't guessed yet?" she asked.

             Remy stopped the charge of the bronze bo-staff, and held it tightly in his hand, he held onto the bag, still charging it, enough light generating from the bag to light the tunnel up dimly, "No!  I haven't!" he hissed, "stop playing games with me, or seriously I will blow this bag up."

             "You aren't the reckless type, Remy.  You never HAVE been, and you care too much about your own skin to blow yourself up," the woman stated, she sounded as if she was trying to feign calm.

             "Wrong.  See, I DID care too much about my own skin to blow myself up," Remy held the bag, he thought of Rogue again.  After what he'd done tonight, there was probably no way Rogue was ever going to take him back, and without her, life wouldn't really be worth living anyway.  Why not die for a worthy cause?  He continued to speak, finally "but way I see it, I got good reason to, see if I blow us both up, I stop you from stealing chemicals, and in that, I can stop MutantX from being made," He said, "I can stop Rogue from ever being hurt again."

             "Ah yes, your little Achilles Heel," the woman said.  "I've watched you, Remy, and you've let her become your weakness, you've lost your touch…"

             Her voice, why did Remy know her voice so well?  He tried to focus on his memory, the ring, the voice, the one green eye and one brown…what did it all mean.

             "Still can't remember, Remy?  Jesus, how many bangs in the head have you taken over the past nine years?" she asked, her voice high, and amused, she gave a shrill laugh, it was so familiar.  She was familiar, and  yet, without seeing her face he could not place her.  

             Nine…years?  Remy thought perplexedly, he frowned, "Nine…years…who…who are you?"

             "Think back, Remy…think to nine years ago…" the woman said, her voice almost soft.

             "I don't have time to think about the past, the only thing I have time to do is kick your fucking ass so you can't get anyone else hurt because of a stupid pill!" he reached into his pocket an retrieved the Ruby ring he'd been carrying with him since the night it had been found he looked at it, "this is yours I believe," he said.  "You left it there that night!"

             "You recognised it, didn't you?" she asked, she stood steady, as if she expected him to attack again, "Surely you must do."

             "I…don't know…" he said, he felt rather foolish, so incredibly in the dark.  Just who was this woman?  He held the ring firmly in his grip, "Should I recognise it?"

             "Think back, Remy, and try and remember…" Remy had the distinct feeling this woman was smirking at him, amused with him.  He felt so much like killing her right then.  Yet, something about the fact he didn't know who she was and couldn't blow them both up without at least knowing who she was, held him back.

             "Don't tell me to think back!  Tell me why I recognise it!!!" he yelled at her, he threw the ring at her, watched it bounce off of her chest and he heard it fall, the chain it was attached to chinking onto the soft earth at her feet.

             "Perhaps you've forgotten some things, Remy.  Or perhaps Xavier has wiped something out of your mind…"

             "Xavier wiped nothing from my mind, Lady," Remy remarked bitterly, "But I'm gonna wipe you off of this planet after what you've done – who are you working for?  The government?!  Trying to have these pills wide spread, poisons within them to finally rid the world of the mutants who take them!!?!"

             "I work for no one," the woman remarked, "But myself," she yanked the mask off.


	5. Chapter 5: Flashback

Chapter 5: Flashback

NINE YEARS EARLIER….

             Remy had been watching through the crack of the living room door for some time, Chantal paced frantically across the living room, her long thick dark blonde hair flowing behind her as she moved, stirred by a breeze from an open window, the night-time sounds of the swamp drifting in from outside. 

             "I won't marry him!" Chantal was saying, her voice was furious and resolute, she stood proud, five foot nine, with a lithe figure, long dark blonde hair hanging just below her back, one eye green, the other brown, her tan slight but healthy.

             "This is an opportunity!" Remy heard his father say, "Why would you want to go to college, this is more important!  Candra is giving you the opportunity to stop the war between Thief and Assassin!"

             Remy watched worriedly, he'd been hearing the argument for the last half hour.  Chantal had informed their father she had been accepted to a very good college, that she had intentions of studying medicine, and becoming a doctor, perhaps even a scientist.  Jean-Luc seemed to have other ideas set for Chantal, and that night had only decided to tell her that she was betrothed to Julien Bordreaux.  

             Remy, being eleven, didn't know too much about the Bordreaux family, only that they were dangerous, and he'd been told to stay away from them at all costs, his father had claimed they were 'murdering bastards', and that was all Remy really needed to know.  In fact, even at age eleven, Remy didn't know too much about the Thieves guild either.  He knew what his father was, and what he did, yet, he knew very little about it, and was eager to learn, his father made promises that some day Remy could be a Thief, just like him.  Remy had always thought this had sounded as if it was something of an honour – but this wasn't the way Chantal seemed to feel about it.

             "I'm not a Thief!" Chantal's eyes were wide, Remy felt his heart thumping, his small thin fingers curled around the door, watching his older sister, who looked close to tears.  "I never wanted to be a Thief, and I never wanted to be betrothed!  You had no right!  You have no right to tell me who to marry!" she was screaming at him.

             "If you marry Julien, you'll never have to worry about money again, the Bordreaux family is one of the richest in the Big Easy, petit!"

             Chantal looked away, her eyes tearing, she put her hand to her mouth, to try and stifle the sobs that were coming out.

             "Your mother would want this, you know she would…" Jean-Luc tried to sound soft, and logical about the situation, Remy, who was eleven, and barely understood what betrothed even meant, could tell by the look Jean-Luc's face that this was definitely not what their mother would have wanted.

             Chantal looked to the floor, she touched the ring, hanging from the chain around her delicate neck, "Mother isn't here to make my decisions for me anymore, father, and if she was here, she'd want me to be happy.  You know she didn't want me being a Thief!  You know that!  You made me be a Thief!  You forced me to learn!  You're going to force Remy to be one too!" Chantal shrieked.

"Remy wants to be a thief!"

"Remy is eleven years old, he thinks what you do for a living is 'cool'.  Just wait until he's my age then he's really going to realise what you're like, and you'll drive him away just like you're driving me away!"

"I'm not trying to drive you away!" Jean-Luc cried, "You're my little girl!"

"The only reason you want to marry me into THAT family is to find their weaknesses so you can off them one by one!  I won't be the one to marry into that family!  I'm only seventeen!" she cried at her father indignantl.

             "Eighteen in two months, old enough for marriage…"

             "No!" she hissed.  "I'm not going to do this."

             "You don't do this, we exile you from this family, Chantal."

             "I don't care," Chantal headed towards the door, Remy dodging just out of the way in time.  Chantal glanced at Remy before passing, she placed her hand on his shoulder, "I'm no longer family," she said, "and now you must think of me as your enemy…" she whispered.  "Because that's how I'll see you all!" she cried back at their father, and then she rushed off without even taking time to gather any of her things.  She was gone.

OCTOBER, 2003

             When Chantal LeBeau had pulled off her mask, revealing her face, beautiful, and familiar, Remy's twenty eight year old sister, Remy had let go of the bag in shock.

             The memory had suddenly returned back, it came surging into his head with ferocious precision, it had so long been forgotten, his father pretending as he'd never had a daughter, so disgusted by the way she'd run out on the family.  He'd disowned Chantal, the whole family, even the guild, had disowned her.  After so much time of being told he had no sister, it had become much like a repressed memory, something he'd never thought of again – until this day.  The ring around her neck, had been his mothers, and she'd always worn it around her neck ever since their mothers death when Remy was nine.

             The explosion came seconds after Remy had let go of the bag, he hadn't had the time to absorb the kinetic energy back into himself in time to stop a detonation.  The blast was bright, the heat, incredible, he the earth seemed to shake around them, they heard the rumbling, and the creak of the wooden pillars as they fell, the earth coming down around them, he saw Chantal from behind a curtain of earth falling violently from the ceiling, and finally she fell, being covered in the thick lumps of earth coming down.  Remy fell to the ground as a pillar landed squarely in his back, immobilizing him.

             The wooden pillars that had collapsed nearby still burned intently, now the entrance was completely blocked off with earth – Remy knowing at once it would take hours to dig himself out.  Remy tried to pull himself up, but he dropped back down, pain teeming through his spine, his cheek hit the earth and he lay there for a few moments, trying to gather some strength, at least enough to hopefully pull himself up.

             Smoke was filling the tunnel fast.  He glanced back to where Chantal had been, the pillars there had fallen, casting the earth above it to collapse onto it.  Only one pillar remained nearby, and this was probably the only thing holding up the earthen walls and ceiling.  Remy began to panic.  He really was going to die.

             Both ends shut off, fire oozing and smoke billowing, the smell became even stronger, and with such little air already in the small space left between both closed ends, Remy knew soon he'd pass out if he didn't get out soon.  The only way he could think that would gain him an exit would be to try and blow some of the earth away before the fire or smoke got out of control, but doing this could also chance everything to cave in around him, he wasn't strong enough to run out of the way before the vibrations would cause the final pillar to collapse, bringing down everything.

             "Chantal…" Remy called out, hoping to god she had not died.  Despite all the trouble she'd caused she was still family – despite it might not be blood.  "Chantal…can you hear me…"

             There was no reply from the mound of earth where Chantal had been brought down.  Remy began to panic more.  It was strange that Chantal had left for almost the same reasons he himself had left New Orleans, although he hadn't wanted a career in medicine or science.  Although she'd sworn him – an eleven year old at the time – now as an enemy.  He suddenly found himself on her side, and whether she had created MutantX or not, she still had relation to him, he understood something he hadn't understood before.

             But if she was now dead, he would never understand why she'd created MutantX in the first place, she had never been a mutant, and certainly didn't seem mutant to him.  Now he might never know.

             Remy felt his consciousness slipping, he was beginning to cough violently, the smoke still filling the tunnel, the smell of burning chemicals even more apparent now than they had been, the fumes filling his lungs, making him dizzy.  How long had he been down in the tunnels?  An hour?  Why hadn't anyone come to find him yet? 

             God…Lord above…if you're listening, don't let me die, I'll do everything in my power to atone for the wrongs I've done in life, just don't let me die, he thought desperately, he closed his eyes tightly praying.  "don't let me die," he croaked in a pained tone.

             It wasn't death he was afraid of, it was never seeing Rogue again that was.  The thought of dying without ever having seen her one last time, without ever having apologised to her for sleeping with another woman, without having apologised for losing his temper with her when he'd found out about her feelings for Jared.  

             The blackness was closing in on him even more, the heat from the fire now becoming even more incredible, and beginning to feel sore on any exposed skin.  He tried to pull himself up but the pillar still on his back wasn't allowing him the freedom.  He was definitely trapped, there was no chance he was going to escape.  The only choice he would have was to charge a card and cause an explosion to clear the pile up of earth.  It was a risk.  A ninety percent chance of everything collapsing on him, it would kill him quickly.  

             He located a card on the floor, he'd dropped it during the fight with his sister.  He reached for it weakly and grasped it, he slotted it into the nearby pile of earth, and he closed his eyes, trying to focus clearly on forcing his kinetic energy to charge the card up.

             He didn't find out if the card ever charged up or not, because he was no longer conscious to know.


	6. Chapter 6: Vulnerable

Chapter 6:  Vulnerable

             Remy had really thought he was dead at first, when he opened his eyes to a bright and almost ethereal looking light, a very present and real pain upon his chest as well as his spine.  However, it soon occurred to him that if he were dead – and he were looking into the light of the other side – then pain certainly wouldn't be persisting so strongly.

             "Try and stay still, Remy…"

             Remy's eyes came into focus, Moira MacTaggart was standing by him, he was on a bed, in a room he didn't recognise.  "Where'm I?" He asked, his voice weak, his throat dry.

             "The sick bay of the Research Centre," Moira was drawing liquid into a syringe, "don't try and talk right now, you should try and rest," she said, she sat on the side of the bed slowly, rolled up the sleeve of the Pyjama top he had just discovered himself wearing.  "I'm going to give you this for the pain…" she stated.

             Remy swallowed, his throat sore, his chest sore, "Where is she?…what…what happened to her…" he looked around, there was one other bed, but no sign of Chantal.  Surely they must have pulled her out of the wreckage too…surely.

             "Who?" Moira looked at Remy puzzled, her eyes on him with some concern.

             "She…was the one…doin' it…" Remy took a deep breath, he closed his eyes and tried to focus on the sting of the needle rather than the pain in his back.  "She was…in there with me…she…the ceiling was caving in…"

             "We didn't find anyone down there except from yourself," Moira pressed the needle deep into his arm, "you were dead for nearly three minutes, too," Moira said, "You're so lucky we found you when we did," she added, "those tunnels have been under there since the first world war, we would have never imagined they were being used to rob us!" she explained, "But…you needn't concern yourself with that now."

             "Why'd I hurt?" Remy asked, the last minutes of his being down in the tunnels seemed so foggy, he couldn't imagine why he was so sore.

             "Ah, one of the support beams apparently fell on your back," Moira replied, "as far as we can see, nothing is broken.  Your chest will probably be hurting for a while yet, Sean and I had to resuscitate you, and it took some beating on your chest to get your heart working again.  You've slept for two days – but you seem to be on the mend now."

             Remy tried to shut the pain out of his mind, the effects of whatever drug Moira had injected into him now taking over his senses, everything seemed to be growing slightly hazy, and he began to feel slightly sleepy again.  

             "At least – as far as we can tell – there isn't any brain damage, and you didn't receive a single burn either," Moira answered, "You're very lucky to be alive."

             Remy agreed, "yeah…lucky," he coughed.  He felt less than lucky, but realised how incredibly ungrateful this was, considering the trouble Moira had probably gone to taking care of him, and after all, his prayers to God had obviously been heard, for he had lived.

             "Since the tunnels caved in down there, its safe to say that there will be no more thieves sneaking in and stealing chemicals…just to be sure, we're having the entrance completely concreted over as soon as possible," Moira explained, she tucked her dark brown hair behind her ears, "and you, Remy, will be able to go back to Bayville," she said firmly, "Something I think you'll be glad of, after three months spent securing this place."

             Remy gave a vague nod, although it hurt to do so, he winced, "does…Xavier know?"

             "Yes, in fact, Professor Xavier and Dr McCoy are flying over here this very moment.  They'll be moving you to Bayville once you're well enough," Moira explained.

             Remy looked away, "And Rogue?" he asked.  He thought it might be possible that Rogue had more than likely heard by now, and would be rushing over to see him as well as Professor Xavier and Hank.  

             "I…have no information what so ever on Rogue, I'm sorry," Moira checked Remy's pulse, glancing towards her watch.

He felt a great wave of disappointment sweep over him, he'd have thought she would have been coming to him, he had wanted her there.

"You should try and get some sleep," Moira said, "you've certainly earned it," she added.

             Remy looked at her, "it was my sister…" he whispered in pain, he gave a weak cough.  "My sister was the one stealing the chemicals," he tried to collect his thoughts about the incident, everything seemed to be drifting further away in his mind, he was having trouble focusing on the details.

             "Your sister?" Moira seemed surprised, "Remy, perhaps you're just hallucinating…the drugs I've just injected, they can cause such things even in such a moderate dose, and you have been under a great deal of stress…"

             "No…t'was my sister…" Remy swallowed, "Chantal…Chantal LeBeau…" he said, his voice almost dreamy, "She…she was down there…she…"

             "If she was down there, Remy, then I'm afraid she must have been killed…" Moira looked away, "the wreckage was so bad, we barely got you out of there before the rest of the structure collapsed," she added softly. 

             Remy felt his eyes water a little, he looked away, staring into space, sadness building up inside of himself.  For the second time in his life, he'd lost his sister, before he'd ever really had much chance to know her.  He'd felt he could have reached her, after all, he'd almost gone through something she had – they could have shared that bond.

             "Miss MacTaggart, I've just received notice that an aircraft is heading this way, and should be here in roughly five minutes…"

             Remy and Moira both turned, Carmel was standing near the door, dressed in a pair of black flared pants, and a blue blouse, a long white lab coat over it.  Her hair tied back in a ponytail.

             "Oh, thank you, Carmel."

             "Oh, he's awake…" Carmel looked at Remy, her eyes light up.

             "I need to go make arrangements for Professor Xavier and Dr McCoy's arrival," Moira said, "keep your visit short, Carmel.  The man needs his rest," Moira got up quickly, and rushed off out of the door.

             Remy gave a deep sigh, and looked at Carmel.  He remembered everything about the night he'd spent with Carmel, and realised he'd better talk to her about it – before she brought it up – and straighten out that he wasn't really interested in her as he'd thought he'd been.  That his heart lay in someone elses hands still, and that he really wasn't ready to move on.

             "So…you're not really a research assistant after all then," Carmel folded her arms almost apprehensively.

             "Not really," Remy said, a small cough escaped his dry, chapped lips.

             "Are you really one of the X-Men?" Carmel asked, her voice very quiet as if she were afraid someone might hear.  She walked over and sat on the edge of the bed next to the bed in which Remy was lying.

             "Oui," Remy replied, "Have been for some time."

             "Why didn't you just tell us?" Carmel asked, "I mean, Christ, Remy, why all the secrecy?"

             Remy gave a deep sigh, "Had to be undercover…it's hard to explain…" he said.

             Carmel looked at him, "I've…been really worried about you," she admitted, then looked down to the floor, her cheeks flushed a little.  "Heard you died for three whole minutes," she added.

             Remy looked at her, "c'mere…" he reached out his hand weakly to her.

             Carmel got up, taking his hand, she sat down on the bed beside him, "Remy…I think I'm in lo—"

             "Ssh," Remy stated, "I…I don't want to hurt you," he sighed, "Lately, its all I seem to really do to girls who seem to come in contact with me, its not deliberate, it just happens," he gave another cough, "You're beautiful, and exciting, and fun, and smart," he said, "But…another girl…is the one holding my heart…" he said.

             Carmel looked at him, she looked like she might cry, "the…one you spoke about?"

             "Oui," Remy nodded, pain in his back when he moved reminded him he shouldn't try to move at all.  "You…caught me at a very vulnerable time…I've recently…been through a lot," he swallowed, and took a deep breath before continuing, "I got a girl pregnant…and the baby…she was stillborn…" he looked away, his eyes tearing up again, "And then Rogue…my beautiful…my perfect Marie…she was raped…" he swallowed, "I blamed myself…and…that's why I was here…to stop MutantX…"

             "I heard rumours that MutantX was being made from the chemicals that were being stolen from here…" Carmel admitted.

             Remy gave a nod, he closed his eyes, "Me and Rogue…had an argument and I sent her away…drove her away…and every day since been blamin' myself…" he whispered, "and with all the disaster been going on in my life, piling up on top of me, I was vulnerable…that's why…I mean, that's why I—" 

             "That's why you slept with me…" Carmel looked away, hurt.

             "I did not mean to hurt you, and if I had known that you had any real feelings for me other than lust…I would not have ever…" he gripped her hand as tightly as he could in his weakened state.  "I would never have did what I did…" he said, "I was hurting, and I was trying to make it go away…I was trying to move on, like you said…only I can't move on," he sighed, "she's still there, in my head…"

             Carmel sighed and got up, "I understand…" she trailed off, "My fault, really, for making a move on you when I knew you were still pining for your ex."

             Remy looked at her, "It was my fault…for allowing myself to use you that way," he sighed, "And I hope you will forgive me, and realise I was not trying to hurt you…" he said softly.

             Carmel gave a shrug, "I…don't know…" she sighed.

             "Carmel, I like you a lot, I can be your friend…but…I can't love you…not while I love Rogue…"

             Carmel sighed, "I…I'm sorry, Remy, I really can't forgive you…" she looked away, still hurt, she looked like she might cry, "I should go, I have work to do."             

             Remy nodded, and he didn't say anything, he watched her go.  The fatigue was growing heavier upon him, as was his guilt.  Now he'd hurt someone else, not just Rogue, but Carmel.  How would Rogue take this when she found out about what he had done?

             Did he have to tell her?

             He closed his eyes, and began to drift slowly into an uneasy sleep, without having a chance to answer himself.    

- The End (Or is it????)


End file.
